were." He raised
his voice again: "If I clear out, will we be left alone?"

"You must give back that armor," she told him. "The Martians insist."

"It's a deal." He stripped the stuff from him and threw it across the
floor to lie beside the bound prisoners. "I'm trusting you, Varina
Pemberton!" he shouted. "We're getting out."

They departed at his orders, all of them. Ling and Izak went last,
dropping the stolen guns they had held so unhandily. Parr waited for all
of them to be gone, then he himself left the ship.

At once bullets began to whicker around him. He dodged behind the ship,
then ran crookedly for cover. By great good luck, he was not hit. His
beast-men hurried to him among the bushes.

"Huh, boss?" they asked anxiously. "Ship no good? What we do?"

He looked over his shoulder. Somewhere in the night enemies hunted for
him. The beast-folk were beneath contempt, would be left alone. Only he
had shown himself too dangerous to be allowed life.

"Goodbye, boys," he said, with real regret. "I'm not much of a boss if I
bring bullets among you. Get back home, and let me haul out by myself. I
mean it," he said sternly, as they hesitated. "On your way, and don't
get close to me again--death's catching!"

They tramped away into the gloom, with querulous backward looks. Parr
took a lonely trail in an opposite direction. After a moment he paused,
tingling with suspense. Heavy feet were following him.

"Who's coming?" he challenged, and ducked to avoid a possible shot. None
came. The heavy tread came nearer.

"Boss!" It was Ling.

"I told you to go away," reminded Parr gruffly.

"I not go," Ling retorted. "You no make me."

"Ling, you were boss before I came. Now that I'm gone from you--"

"You not gone from me. You my boss. Those others, they maybe pick new
boss."

"Ling, you fool!" Parr put out a hand in the night, and grabbed a mighty
shaggy arm. "I'll be hunted--maybe killed--"

"Huh!" grunted Ling. "They hunt us, maybe they get killed." He turned
and spat over his shoulder, in contempt for all marauding Martians and
their vassal Earth folk. "You, me--we stay together, boss."

"Come on, then," said Parr. "Ling, you're all right."

"Good talk!" said Ling.

* * * * *

They went to the other side of the little spinning world, and there
nobody bothered them. Time and space were relative, as once Einstein
remarked to illustrate a rather different situation; anyway, t